English Dub Review: Ace Attorney “Hear the Waves of Turnabout”

Pearl has gone and done it again.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

It’s a peaceful day at Phoenix Wright’s office, until he’s approached by Pearl Fey, Maya’s little cousin. Pearl, in typical clumsy form, has accidentally broken a giant seashell that is special to her. She goes on to explain that she needs help finding a new one, using Phoenix’s ace investigative skills. Being the good guy that he is, he agrees. The two take a train to the beach to try and find a replacement shell.

While on the train, Pearl shares a flashback with Phoenix about the seashell’s origin. Maya had given it to her when the two were younger. While they bonded over the seashell, Maya told Pearl of how beautiful the ocean is, which inspired a desire in Pearl to go and see the ocean for herself, even though her mother always forbade from leaving Kurain village.

Phoenix and Maya arrive at “Seashell station”, where they head through the woods to find the ocean’s edge. Pearl continues to flashback to when Maya took her to the beach against her mother’s wishes. Morgan was quite cross with Maya, making Pearl feel bad for going with Maya, but Maya insists that it isn’t Pearl’s fault.

Back in the present, Phoenix and Pearl come across, surprisingly enough, Maya hiding in the rocks. She takes them both to a cute ramen cart nearby and shares her story of childhood bonding with Pearl with Phoenix. She reveals that Mia gave her the shell originally, which turns out to be the bowl that the ramen is served in at the ramen cart.

Nick gives Pearl a new shell, but Pearl insists to Maya that she wants to keep the shell she has, since its so meaningful to her even if it does have a hole in it. Maya then reflects on her own story of how she got the shell from Mia back in the day, happy that she’s been able to share this legacy with Pearl.

Our Take:

After last week’s attempt at drama and mystery, Ace Attorney is right back to its old habits of finding new ways to fill out the season with non-canonical side stories. It seems as if the goal of this show is not to be an adaptation of the “Ace Attorney” games but a loose retelling of the material with some added side stories. This is not unheard of in the “Ace Attorney” world, as the manga series has also gone down the “Expanded universe” idea as well. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with this, and in fact, I think this side story is one of the better episodes that Ace Attorney has had in quite some time. Unrestricted by the need to tell a compelling mystery in a courtroom setting, this week’s episode takes a nice detour to the beach to tell a touching story of two sisters. It’s humble, but that’s quite alright when it comes to telling a good story.

The emotional core of this episode lies entirely within Pearl, a character who doesn’t get a whole lot of screen time in the grand scheme of things. Yet, Pearl is easily one of the most likable characters in the show, (When she’s not breaking things, that is) which is well demonstrated here. Curious, kind and filled with a sense of adventure, Pearl is the center of this story. By the end of it, the audience develops a deeper bond with her as a character, as we see just why she loves her cousin Maya so much.

What makes this episode work so well is the absence of a real mystery for the characters to solve. Ironically enough, this show has completely bungled its attempts to tell a good mystery at every attempt, so by refraining from that part of the “Ace Attorney” dogma is a welcome break. Without having to fool around with a half-baked story, the sweet little story of Pearl’s precious seashell is far better told. How much more mangled and ridiculous this story would be if there was a shoehorned courtroom scene on the beach or a dumb “whodunnit” added to the mix. Furthermore, by demonstrating Morgan Fey’s presence in Pearl’s life, the show sets itself up for the arc to come, where the history of the Feys becomes all the more important.